Missing - Series
by Jackie Wepps
Summary: Various things are mysteriously going missing here and there and everywhere. But who is behind all of this? (Warning: Don't do these things in real live. You won't gain much popularity)
1. Lucky Item

**Summary:** Midorima's lucky item - a mechanical pencil - is missing, and no matter how many times he gets one, it always disappears. Where did they go, and why does Takao look like he is about to bust out laughing?

* * *

It was what you would call any other day in Midorima Shintarou's life. He had followed today's routine to perfection down to the very last detail. Because he had a game today, he knew to be extra careful about his luck, if he wanted to ensure the victory of his team. He had watched Oha-Asa and as always, brought his lucky item with him, a mechanical pencil. He was also holding it in hand when entering the classroom.

"Oi, Shin-chan!" Takao yelled from his seat. Despite all odds, he was there before Midorima. This was something new, seeing as Takao would always be coming in five minutes before classes started at best. Midorima would usually never be later than ten minutes before class.

"You are early, Takao," Midorima commented.

Takao smirked. "Sure am, but today's a special day, you know we have a game," something made Midorima feel just a tiny bit uneasy about this. Takao was acting like his usual self, Midorima felt as lucky as ever, and yet there was something that worried him.

"What are you holding there, Shin-chan?" Takao asked, pointing to the mechanical pencil in Midorima's hand.

"Today's lucky item, a mechanical pencil," Midorima explained.

"I see, it's small today," Takao said before turning away. What was up with that guy?

Midorima took his seat and placed the pencil in front of him, very carefully. They would have to watch a documentary for their first class today, so he won't be in need of it for now.

* * *

When the first class was over and the teacher turned the lights back on and removed the curtains, Midorima blinked. Then he took a look down at his desk. It was empty. Where was the mechanical pencil he had brought?

"Where is it?" he mumbled and started searching his bag.

"What's missing?" Takao asked, turning around. His smirk was perfectly in place on his face.

"What do you think, Takao?" Midorima snapped while emptying his bag on the table in a feverish speed.

Takao blinked before it seemed to come clear to him. "Your lucky item is missing, huh?" he asked.

Midorima only got more irritated from each word Takao spoke. "Takao, do you have a mechanical pencil I can borrow for today?" Midorima asked.

Takao seemed to think for a bit. "Nope, never owned one," Then he leaned over to the girl sitting next to him. "Excuse me, Oyama-san, do you have a mechanical pencil Shin-chan can borrow?" he asked.

The girl looked up from the book she was reading. "Mechanical pencil?" she asked before taking a look. "I've got one, sure," she smiled while handing it to Midorima. "Here you go, Midorima-kun,"

Midorima accepted the pencil and placed it on the table in front of him however it was gone by the time the next class started and Takao had to ask another student for a pencil.

* * *

"How many pencils have you lost already?" Miyaji asked when he reached Midorima's and Takao's classroom at the lunch break. He had an irritated expression on his face as he too handed over the only mechanical pencil that he owned.

"Let's see," Takao was the one answering, though the question was asked to Midorima. "He lost his own, he lost Oyama-san's, he lost Maruyama-kun's, he lost Matsumoto-kun's, he lost Iwazaki-san's and he lost Kawai-kun's just now,"

"That's six in total," Miyaji figured. Then he glared at Midorima. "If you lose mine I will run you over with Kimura's truck, and I mean it this time!" he said before leaving the classroom.

Takao let out a chuckle. "Wow Shin-chan, you really gotta be careful with that one," he said.

Midorima said nothing as he placed the mechanical pencil the same place he had placed all the others. It wasn't fun having a life threat hanging over his head, but he knew that it wasn't his own fault that these pencils were going missing. Whatever was happening it wasn't his fault, but he wondered who was to blame then.

After a short amount of time though, the new mechanical pencil was missing and Takao had to go into the neighboring classroom to ask another one if they could lend their mechanical pencil to Midorima.

"Why are you doing this?" Midorima asked once Takao made it back with another one, saying that Takeuchi-san had at least four more where the one he had brought came from.

"This?" Takao asked. "Nothing should make our Ace-sama fail, not even some little mechanical-pencil-thief," the smirk was still in place on his face.

Midorima wasn't sure he got that, but it didn't matter. He didn't mind not being the one to run around for a change. Takao was better at speaking to people anyway. He had a feeling everyone else just found him weird (which is probably the case).

* * *

After having asked for about 20 mechanical pencils however, Takao got tired of it and Midorima went on and gathered a few of his own. He even went as far as to ask anyone he met on his way and gather up a few pencils, just in case the first one got stolen and he would have to get a new one anyway.

However, when the final bell rang he had already been out two more times and picked up about 10 pencils each time. The question started to fill more and more and more on his mind to the point when he couldn't think of anything but where the mechanical pencils went, and why in the world Takao was always smirking like an idiot, no matter how many pencils went missing.

"Would you stop, Takao?" Midorima asked as they headed to the gym, where the game for today would be held.

"With what, Shin-chan?" Takao asked curiously.

"Your smirk," Midorima said. "It's annoying,"

This only caused Takao to smirk even wider, to Midorima's dismay.

They reached the gym and changed quickly, prepared to play the game against that other team. All the other members of Shuutoku but Miyaji lend Midorima their mechanical pencils and Midorima thanked them while receiving evil glares from Miyaji for losing his.

"You ready, Shin-chan?" Takao asked while stepping up to Midorima. Midorima thought he felt someone gently touching him but when he looked down, there was nothing.

"Shut up, Takao," Midorima just said as he stepped away from his still widely smirking teammate.

* * *

The game went up and down. Every now and then Midorima would lose his mechanical pencil and after a while he started noticing something else that was extremely unusual.

"Takao," Midorima said after counting the mechanical pencils.

"What's wrong, Shin-chan?" Takao asked as he walked up to Midorima.

"Have you seen anyone by the mechanical pencils lately?" he asked.

Takao looked thoughtful. "Not that I can recall, I have been busy keeping an eye at the game," he said There was no denying that. Today's game was a tough one and it still wasn't over yet. It craved all of their attention and skills. They only fought a few games that were tough like this one, most of them had been against teams with other members of the Generation of Miracles on them. The team they were up against however mostly challenged their senpais. Midorima and Takao had nearly nothing to worry about, but making threes, stealing balls and passing, respectively.

"Why do you ask, Shin-chan?" Takao spoke again.

"The number of mechanical pencils has decreased. I have only lost two during the game and there are at least four missing," Midorima counted the pencils again, confirming his suspense.

"Hmm…" Takao seemed to really give the matter some thought. "I wonder how that could be…"

Just then there was signaled for the game to start again and Midorima and Takao got busy heading back to the court.

* * *

The game ended with a victory to Shuutoku, but with only a five point difference between them and the other team. However, at this point Midorima had only one mechanical pencil left. He was holding onto it very tightly though, to make sure not to drop it by accident or anything.

"Let's go shower, Shin-chan," Takao said with that smile he always wore after a victory, however there was still a hint of the smirk Midorima had been looking at all day, behind this smile. He followed Takao and they showered along with the rest of the team.

Takao was first to finish and Midorima followed shortly after. Both he and Takao changed while the rest of the team returned from the showers. The problem occurred when Midorima was gathering his things and found that something was missing, again.

"Where is it?" he mumbled while, yet again, making a feverish search of the mechanical pencil.

"Oh, Shin-chan, is the mechanical pencil missing again?" Takao asked in wonder while quickly closing his bag.

Midorima didn't bother answering. He knew very well that Takao already knew the answer to that question. There simply was no need.

"Let's go, Takao," Midorima said before taking the lead out of the changing room to the rickshaw. The point was that Takao and Midorima would use it to get home. Now it was just time for the usual rock-paper-scissors game, deciding who would be riding the bike to the next traffic light.

"Janken pon," both said and Takao showed paper while Midorima showed scissors. Both knew what that meant and got into position. Takao complained, but he did that all the time. It was nothing new to any of them.

At the next traffic light the two of them got off and made another round of rock-paper-scissors.

"Janken pon," they said again and this time Takao showed scissors while Midorima showed rock. This determined the way things would be going until the next traffic light as well, much to Takao's dismay.

The entire ride was awfully quiet. Midorima didn't want to talk and Takao was busy pedaling to say anything, and Midorima got the feeling that the shorter male was also thinking of something, though he didn't know what it was.

Again they reached a traffic light and both got off.

"Janken pon," they said and both showed paper this time. Midorima was surprised. This had never happened before, normally he would win without a doubt, but it didn't matter if he didn't. They had to do it again now. "Janken pon," both said and Takao showed rock, while Midorima still stuck with paper, thereby winning again.

Takao had no other choice but to pedal the rest of the way to Midorima's house before stopping the rickshaw and allowing the taller green-haired boy to get off. He had a gloomy aura around him now it seemed.

"What is it, Takao?" Midorima frowned.

Takao got off the rickshaw as well, the smirk he had worn all day was now replaced by a slightly irritated expression. "Tell me, Shin-chan, what would it take to make you lose at rock-paper-scissors?" Takao asked, not meeting Midorima's eyes.

"Luck," was the simple answer the taller male offered.

Takao frowned at that answer. The irritation boiling inside of him, turning into rage. "Haven't I prevented that from coming to you all day?" he asked. "Haven't I kept all the luck away from you as best as I could?"

Midorima stared at Takao, trying to grasp what the other meant by his words. To him it didn't make sense. How had Takao been preventing luck and good fortune from coming to him? He hadn't been particularly unlucky today in the first place.

Midorima continued to watch in wonder as Takao opened one of his bags and emptied it unto the ground. Out of it fell a pile of multiple mechanical pencils, to Midorima's surprise, it was all the mechanical pencils that had gone missing all day. At the very top of the pile was his own, unmistakable, green one with his name written on the side with a black pen. He recognized it easily and picked it up.

"You were the one who had all of these go missing?" Midorima asked in wonder, while studying his mechanical pencil carefully. "why?" he then asked the obvious question.

Takao sighed and forced his body to relax, with no success though. "Because I am sick and tired of being the one pedaling all the time. I know we decide this by rock-paper-scissors, but I always lose! I was looking for a way to win, or prevent you from winning. That last time, I really thought I had succeeded, but then you won… again. I even went as far as to wait for the day when Scorpio would rank 1 in Oha-Asa, not that I believe in it, but according to Shin-chan it should provide some kind of luck on my part,"

Midorima nodded, accepting the explanation. He had no idea what it felt like to lose all the time because he always made sure he didn't, but it seemed to really bother Takao a lot.

He didn't make a further comment about it though. He just went inside and let Takao pick up all the mechanical pencils on his own before going home.

* * *

The following day at school it was announced by a poster on a board that everyone who had lend their pencil to Midorima Shintarou the day before could come pick it up at Takao Kazunari's seat, classroom was already given and he would not leave the seat until after school, that was ensured and also announced by the poster.

All day on that day, Midorima would watch as his schoolmates would come and go from the classroom, each of them would leave with their mechanical pencil. He would never admit it, but he was amazed at how Takao could pick out the right pencil when having it described and hand it back to the right person, without fail.

At practice, Miyaji send both Midorima and Takao a glare that was supposed to make both of them get scared and was harder on Takao especially. Judging from the looks the other teammates, Midorima could tell that they thought he deserved it. Midorima himself could only agree.

* * *

Takao was standing back in the shower, enjoying the way his body started to relax from the heat of the water. Practice had been tough today, he hadn't expected anything less. He was the last one to leave the showers today because he had been standing under the water for a while longer than the others, not being able to pull himself together enough to get out as quickly as usual.

He changed at a slow pace as well, he was therefore also, by far, the last one to leave the changing room. He wasn't particularly in a hurry. All he could look forward to was driving that rickshaw with Midorima behind him, just sitting there, never doing anything. It wasn't exactly what his sore muscles needed, but he knew very well that he had done a lot to deserve the way he was treated at practice today.

The skies were gray and it would start raining soon. The wind was blowing harshly. He would be driving with his face against the wind almost all the way to Midorima's house. This idea troubled him a lot. Couldn't he have picked another day for pranking Midorima than yesterday? Maybe then he wouldn't have had to be so exhausted today.

Reaching the place where the rickshaw usually held Takao found himself unable to move for a split second. In front of him, he could see Midorima sitting on the rickshaw, but not where he usually sat, he was ready to drive at any moment.

"What is this, Shin-chan?" Takao asked the grin was wide on his face as he met Midorima's frowning face.

"Don't get me wrong, this is simply to prevent misfortune-makers like you from disturbing my luck," Midorima said with a cold expression.

Takao smiled and jumped up in the back, suddenly feeling like he had 10 times more energy than just a second ago. "Let's go, Shin-chan!" he exclaimed.

"You're enjoying this way too much," Midorima said before he started pedaling.

Takao didn't deny it. It was a nice change, but he made sure to not appear to be enjoying it too much after this. Maybe if Midorima wasn't being annoyed he would keep on pedaling until they reached Takao's home, then he won't have to pedal at all today.

* * *

 **Hey everyone!**

 **So, here's an interesting story that I hope you liked. I really like to write stories for Kuroko no Basuke. I think it's because there are so many different characters who are funny in their own interesting way. It's impossible not to have one you prefer just a tiny bit over the others. Takao is one of my own personal favorites and since his birthday is coming up, we're gonna make this like a count-down.**

 **Well, I guess I've just spoiled everything. It was the point not to do this, but it can't be helped. I'm just way too informative.**

 **Janken pon* is, as far as I understood, the Japanese phrase of "rock-paper-scissors" At least it is seems like that in the translation of Way to Victory, a duet between Takao and Midorima, found on Midorima's solo mini-album.**

 **Reviews, favorites and follows are all very welcome for this story, I appreciate any kind of support. I hope you'll keep reading.**

 **Jackie**

* * *

 _ **Pour toi Paris. Je tu pensée.**_


	2. Basketballs

**Summary:** Kaijou is going to practice, but there is one important thing missing. There are no basketballs left in the gym! Where are they?

* * *

"Alright class, that's it for today," the teacher said as the final bell rang, marking the end of the final lesson for today. Everyone let out sighs of relief. Today had been a really tough day, full of teachers talking endlessly about things that didn't seem to matter to any students. It was the final day of school for this week so nobody had the energy to concentrate.

Kise stretched his long body and let out a tired groan. All he wanted right now was just to go to practice and hope it would lighten the headache he was feeling over the endless talking from today.

"Kise-kun…," a shy girl walked up to Kise while holding her hands tightly. She was looking down at her feet as she spoke so Kise couldn't see her eyes. "A-Are… do you have time off today?"

Kise looked behind the girl. One of his classmates was standing there, another girl, this girl had probably encouraged her friend to speak to him because… maybe she had a crush on him or something, most girls had anyway.

"I'm sorry," Kise smiled. "I have practice today and I'm afraid Kasamatsu-senpai will yell at me if I skip," he said, smiling brighter at her than sunshine. The girl was completely blinded.

"T-t-t-then… c-can you… w-will… could we watch you practice?" the girl asked, taking time getting her words in place. She really was nervous about this situation.

Kise smiled even brighter, if that was possible. "Of course, I'm sure they won't mind," he said

And so he was tailed by almost every girl from his own year to the gym where he knew his team would already be waiting for him, Kasamatsu probably with an irritated expression, or would he be happy to see him? Kise couldn't figure that one out.

* * *

The part of changing went quickly. There were still a few left in the changing room and Kise actually managed to exit in the same time as the last one, not so bad if he had to say so. Of course Kasamatsu was already in the gym waiting for them. Practice had yet to start.

"Okay," Kasamatsu said. "We have to do a quick warm-up and then we get the basketballs, the one who is responsible for the girls hanging around upstairs is the one to get the basketballs," he send Kise a look that made the yellow-haired boy aware that he already knew who was responsible, as always.

The Kaijou basketball team started warming up, it was a routine they had all gotten used to doing by now. There was nothing new about this at all.

When the team finished and Kasamatsu declared so, Kise went to get the basketballs as they could get started on practice. He knew where to get them. It wasn't the first time Kasamatsu had asked him to do this and it won't be the last time either. Everybody knew, even Kise had realized it.

He opened the door to the room where they kept the basketballs and looked into the net that usually held them. However…

"Kasamatsu-senpai!" Kise exclaimed as he ran out of the room and up to his senpai.

"What, Kise?" Kasamatsu snapped. He was irritated by the fact that Kise was completely unable to get the balls. This wasn't like him in the first place. He would always get them when asked to. He wasn't one to deny a request.

"It's the basketballs," Kise said. "They're all missing!"

"Idiot!" Kasamatsu smacked Kise in the head before going back to check. He signaled for Kise to follow him back, and so the other did.

Kasamatsu entered the room first with Kise in toe. He looked down at the net and stood still for a short while, with his back turned to Kise as the younger couldn't see his expression.

"Why did you make them go missing!" Kasamatsu yelled while smacking Kise in the head for the second time within five minutes. Kise didn't know what to do.

"Why do you accuse me for this Kasamatsu-senpai!?" he whined with false tears running at the corner of each eye.

Kasamatsu sighed. "Because you're the most unlikely suspect, yet you were in the most likely position to do this. I wanted to make sure I can trust you," he said.

Kise smiled widely. "You can always trust me," he said.

Kasamatsu made his way past the overjoyed Kise and headed out. "Since I now know I can trust you, I might as well bring you along when searching for the basketballs," he said over his shoulder, causing Kise to become even happier as he followed his captain out of the room.

Kasamatsu demanded the team to gather around and informed them, along with their coach that their basketballs had all gone missing and therefore they couldn't start practicing yet.

The coach claimed that it wasn't true. The team would just have to use some other kind of balls to practice, but while most of the team did that, Kasamatsu and Kise would go to find the missing basketballs. Kasamatsu; because he was the team captain, and Kise; because he was the one who had to get the balls in the first place.

"And none of you guys would hide the basketballs?" Kasamatsu asked as a last resort before he and Kise left on their quest.

"We haven't," Moriyama said. Kasamatsu only nodded at his answer.

Then he signaled to Kise that they were getting out to look for something, clues or anything like it, and left the gym. Kise kept on following him.

* * *

Outside there was nothing. A few girls were standing around in little groups while whispering, probably about Kise and his appearance. However, Kise had no time to stop and allow the girls to admire him or have awkward conversations with them, seeing as Kasamatsu was already way ahead of him, and he had to keep up.

"Wait up, Kasamatsu-senpai!" Kise yelled before running after the older student to catch up. Kasamatsu was walking at the fastest pace one could walk at while still calling it walking. He didn't slow down to make it easier for Kise to catch up.

"Kise," he said once the other had caught up. "What do you think could've happened to the basketballs if nobody from the team took them?"

Kise tried to think which wasn't such an easy task in Kise's case. "Maybe someone else was in need of them?" he suggested.

Kasamatsu nodded. "That could be," he said. "I can't come up with any better reason at the moment,"

Kise was surprised. He had really counted on Kasamatsu to come up with something good. If he couldn't come up with anything, then who could?

"Now we just need to figure out who took them…" Kasamatsu said.

Kise smiled as he got a bright idea, it had hit him as quick as a strike of lightning. "We could ask the girls if they have seen anything," he suggested happily.

Kasamatsu looked at Kise's face with a shocked expression which later changed to terrified. He grabbed Kise by the collar and pulled his face down as their eyes were on the exact same level before he started whispering. "Are you nuts, I don't talk to girls," he said lowly.

Kise blinked. "Oh yeah, that's right," he said. "Then you should just leave the talking to me, Kasamatsu-senpai," he said calmly.

Kasamatsu wasn't so sure he felt confident with that idea either, but as long as it didn't involve him talking to the girls in person, he figured it would have to do for the time being, unless Kise said something stupid. The question was if Kasamatsu could even manage to step in and stop Kise if he did? After all, it was girls they were gonna talk to. Girls…

Kasamatsu found that he was lost in thoughts while Kise had already made his way up to the first little group of girls like it was no big deal and started talking to them. The senior student quickly followed him knowing full well that all Kise could keep in his head was stuff that involved only himself and his own interests.

"Excuse me, but our basketballs have gone missing and I was wondering if you girls had seen someone carrying a basketball somewhere around here?" Kise asked the group of girls, politely.

The shortest girl of the group, who seemed to be the one to talk the most, was the one who spoke.

"No, I'm sorry Kise-sama, we haven't seen any kind of balls outside the gym," she answered.

"I see," Kise nodded with a smile on his face. "Thank you for your time," he briefly let his gaze trail over the girls as he started making his way somewhere else, leaving the entire group breathless for a few seconds. Kasamatsu was still following him, unnoticed.

* * *

The two continued on their quest, they asked group after group of girls if they had seen anyone with basketballs. Most hadn't, some were too obsessed with being talking to Kise to even give an answer, one even fainted from him looking at her, her friend excused her by saying it happened a lot, which caused Kise to calm down, but Kasamatsu to get really worried about the girl. To faint so much that one could say it happened a lot with such ease wasn't normal. There were even some girls who asked what a basketball looked like, these girls had no clue of who Kise was either.

Finally the duo walked upstairs from the gym, where the others were practicing, using any other kind of ball they could find. They could see them, but they were busy doing other stuff, such as making their way through the hoard of girls standing up there.

"Excuse me," Kise said to a second year girl. "Have you seen anyone remove the basketballs from this gym?" he asked.

The girl blushed slightly. "No, sorry, I haven't," she said quickly before her face turned tomato-red and she had to turn away.

Kise sighed and looked at Kasamatsu. "I'm afraid nobody has seen anything, Kasamatsu-senpai,"

"E-e-excuse me," a shy girl spoke while grabbing Kasamatsu's arm. The senior jumped and turned to look at the girl. He couldn't even find the words to ask her to go on. Why would this girl talk to him in the first place?

"E-e-excuse me, I-I… I saw someone running back and forth with the basketballs," the girl said.

Kise now looked at her. "Aren't you that girl who came into my class just after school and asked if you could watch us practice?" he asked.

The girl's face heated up even worse than the second-year girl's face from a bit earlier. "I… I am!" she exclaimed, her voice rising to a pitch that was beyond human reach.

"What did you see?" Kise asked.

"There was this boy who ran in and out of the gym countless times, each time he ran out he would carry about three basketballs. He waved at us once while running past us, telling us not to tell you," she said in a feverish tone.

Kise nodded. "Do you know where he took the balls or what he looked like?" he asked.

"He took them behind the gym, I didn't see what was holding there, but I passed him," the shy girl's friend said, that one who was in Kise's class. "He was wearing a school uniform. I don't remember the school it belongs to, but it was black, so was his hair," she explained.

"Kurokocchi's uniform is black," Kise recalled, so is either Aominecchi or Midorimacchi's," he continued while a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. "I don't remember who though,"

"I highly doubt our basketballs are in Tokyo," Kasamatsu mumbled irritated before dragging Kise out to behind the gym. Kise only barely got the time to thank the girls for their helpfulness.

What they saw behind the gym was… nothing. There was nothing there at all but emptiness and what they could usually see. No trace of anything. No car tracks, no bike, no evidence of anyone ever being there in the first place.

"Is that it?" Kise asked, sounding almost disappointed.

Kasamatsu didn't say a word. With determination he went on to take a look at the scene. There could still be evidence here that they just were unable to see. Kise was left behind to just stand until Kasamatsu came back, carrying what looked to be a student ID.

"I think we just found our guy," he said while showing the student ID to Kise.

Kise took a quick look. "Huh?" he said in wonder as he looked at it. "I know the name of that school, but I don't recognize the face,"

"Neither do I," Kasamatsu said. "But we are going to Tokyo right now," he demanded.

* * *

"Why would we need so many basketballs?" Otsubo asked in amazement while looking at all the basketballs his teammate had gathered.

"I just figured more basketballs would make practice more effective," Takao said.

"Where did you get these from anyway?" Miyaji picked one up and threw it up in the air before dribbling with it a couple of times. "Did you rob a bank or something?"

Takao grinned. "Far from it," he said. "They were just lying around somewhere,"

Midorima entered the gym. "Where have you been, Takao?" he snapped.

"Ah Shin-chan!" Takao smiled. "I was just out collecting some extra basketballs for practice today,"

Midorima had his suspicion that he didn't really want to know where all these basketballs came from, but despite him not wanting so, his team sure would get to figure out where they came from shortly.

The door opened then and another first year entered the room. "Excuse me," he said. "Someone is here to see our team about something, they say they need to hand back a student ID," he proclaimed.

Otsubo nodded. "Let them in," he said calmly before the first year left and quickly returned with the visitors.

"Wow, this is the school that Midorimacchi goes to?" they could hear someone exclaim. "I never imagined it would be like this!"

Midorima send Takao a quick look with irritation and disbelief as Kise and Kasamatsu entered the gym, right behind the first year.

"You are from Kaijou," Otsubo said before turning to face the two.

Kasamatsu nodded. "Our basketballs went missing and in their place we found this student ID," he made a short break while showing them the backside of the student ID. "Tell me, are any of you named Takao Kazunari?" he asked.

Takao didn't know what to do at first, but decided to play it cool. "That'd be me, thanks for returning that," he said, quickly figuring there was no way around the matter.

"Could we have the basketballs back? Kise has to bring them to the gym," Kasamatsu asked.

"Aw, you're still going on about that, Kasamatsu-senpai?" Kise asked in a slightly whiny tone.

Kasamatsu ignored him while counting exactly how many basketballs he could see. It added perfectly up to the number of basketballs that had gone missing, and the number of basketballs Kaijou owned (which was the same number).

"We will just take those balls back," Kasamatsu said. "Kise, get to work,"

Otsubo nodded. "He won't be doing it alone though, I think it is suitable to hold the team responsible, Takao, you help him out,"

Takao put up a whiny expression but ended up helping out anyway. Therefore Kasamatsu managed to make it back to Kaijou in time to finish practice with everyone else. He had brought one ball as they could play a match. Kise came just after practice along with Takao and the remaining balls, and Takao returned way after Shuutoku's practice was over, deciding that stealing another team's basketballs was something he probably shouldn't try again any time soon.

* * *

 **I also hope you liked this one.**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Jackie**


	3. Uniforms

**Summary:** Seirin is about to have a practice game against Shuutoku, but their uniforms are missing. Will Riko find them in time or will her team be forced to face total humiliation?

* * *

Riko was beaming with excitement when she entered the gym at Seirin High School one fateful Monday afternoon. When the members of Seirin's basketball team saw her expression everyone froze with complete horror on their faces. Sure it was worse if she wore an angry expression, but when she was beaming like this, it usually didn't mean anything good for them.

"What are you so happy about?" Hyuga asked, feeling it would be impolite not to, seeing as she had made such a big deal out of seeming happy.

"Oh nothing," Riko said. "I've just arranged a practice game against Shuutoku on this Friday," she said, really acting like it was nothing at all.

Hyuga thought it was fine at first, but then he remembered. "But coach," he started. "That's…"

Riko kept on beaming. "The day of the second years' English test and the first years' Japanese test," she said, like that was no matter. She completely ignored the team as they all sighed heavily. Now their Friday was even more ruined than before.

* * *

Friday came way before the Seirin team had wanted it to, but thankfully nobody had to worry about their tests since they didn't count for anything but seeing their exact level in the given subject. Everyone but Kagami even made it through with no trouble at all. (But what else would one expect from him?)

Before anyone knew it, the school day was over and they were well on their way to Shuutoku High School where the practice game would be held.

"I wish she had picked another day," Hyuga mumbled.

"It could've been worse, she could have picked a day of an exam," Kiyoshi tried to lighten up the mood.

"She would never be that cruel to herself," Hyuga stated. "Besides, they don't allow practice games on exam days,"

Nobody exchanged a word after that, until they entered Shuutoku's ground and found that two were standing there, waiting for them.

"Oi, they're here," Takao said, stepping out in front of the team, Midorima followed shortly after with an unwilling expression on his face. "The coach and Otsubo-san figured you hadn't had the time to change yet so we are to show you to a place where you can change," he said.

Riko nodded. "Thank you," she said and then turned to her team. "I am not coming with you of course," she said. "I will go to the gym and wait for you there. You follow Midorima-kun and Takao-kun," she said.

The Seirin team only nodded at this and Riko left them. Takao led the way while Midorima just followed along with Seirin's team.

"How did your coach know of this?" Kagami asked Midorima.

"How would I know?" Midorima mumbled irritated while fixing his glasses.

Kagami took in a breath to continue and probably ask Midorima why he didn't know, but Kuroko interrupted him by asking Midorima a much more serious question which the green-haired would much rather answer than continue the stupid conversation with Kagami.

The changing room they were let to was pretty big. There were lockers in both sides of it and benches in the middle, there was also a shower room.

"The lockers over there belongs to the basketball club," Takao pointed them out. "Otsubo-san says you can use those five at the bottom, furthest down," he pointed them out, a slight smirk playing on his lips.

The Seirin team started changing and Kuroko had an intense conversation with Midorima. Everyone did their best to keep up with it, because the subject was interesting. Therefore nobody noticed the big issue until Midorima had to leave and the team had to pull on their uniforms.

"Strange… Tsuchida said. "I could've sworn I packed it," he looked through his bag again.

"My uniform's missing!" Koganei exclaimed.

"Mine's not here either," Kagami said, flipping his bag.

This caused a huge discussion to break out. The team was wearing nothing but boxers and now their uniforms had all gone missing.

After a while of the team discussing what could've happened to their uniforms the door opened and Takao came in again. "Oi, we're about to start," he said, "Your coach said that you should hurry up and finish,"

Hyuga nodded with determination. "If our uniforms are missing, then we will just have to play in our school uniforms," he said before turning to his locker. He found it strange that it was shut, because he certainly didn't remember closing it. He tried to pull it open but… it was locked.

Hyuga turned to Izuki, since there had only been five lockers, they had had to share and Hyuga had decided to share with Izuki so. "Izuki, did you lock this?"

"I thought you did," Izuki answered.

"Why would I?" Hyuga asked.

The others got busy trying to find out if their lockers had locked as well. Unfortunately, it seemed to be the case.

"What is this?" Kagami asked, eying the door which Takao had been standing by a second ago, but the Shuutoku point guard had disappeared completely. "Oi, Kuroko, why did you teach him your trick,"

"I didn't teach anyone any tricks," Kuroko answered. "Takao-kun has just left while we were keeping our attention focused on something else,"

"No matter how he vanished," Hyuga said. "I'd rather know where our uniforms and keys vanished,"

Just then the door opened again and Riko entered the room. "Seriously, hurry up and finish, we are all waiting for-" Then she stopped as she saw that the entire team was practically wearing nothing at all. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Our uniforms are missing, and our school uniforms are in our lockers, and our keys are missing too," Hyuga explained.

Riko looked at each team member. The mean look she had worn upon entering the room was gone and replaced by a much more serious look. "It is unlikely that all of you forgot on the same day. Are you sure you all packed them?" She looked at each member individually until they nodded. Then Riko let out a sigh. "And the keys can't just go missing like that, someone is pranking us and I am going to find that prankster before the game starts," she said.

"When is that?" Hyuga asked worriedly.

"15 minutes exactly," Riko answered. "I hope to have found them by then," she said and then left the room to search for the uniforms.

Back at the gym she started looking through each hiding spot she could find. She didn't find anything though. Behind her she could hear Shuutoku's team warming up. She looked up every now and then to see how that went. She couldn't help but think that her team could be doing the same right now if it wasn't for their uniforms going missing like that.

"What are you looking for?" Otsubo had come up to Riko, finding it suspicious that she was just walking around and looking at every hiding place the gym had to offer.

"Nothing…," Riko placed her hand behind her head in an awkward way while in the same time also sending the Shuutoku captain an awkward smile. He sent her a suspicious look in return. She knew she had to come up with an explanation. "I… I just noticed the place is a little dusty and wanted to see how bad it was,"

"That's strange, we clean it every day," Otsubo said.

"Maybe not well enough?" Riko suggested, painfully aware that time was ticking. "How long until the game starts?" she asked.

Otsubo looked around until he found a clock. "11 minutes," he said.

Riko nodded. "Thank you," she said before hurrying out of the gym. She had already checked all possible places there and needed another place to look. The problem was that due to her pride and the pride of her teammates she certainly couldn't tell the members of Shuutoku about this.

The Seirin coach passed the locker room where the team was still hiding. She went to a room where she could see there was an open door. She looked in and noticed the light coming in from another door. She could also hear the sounds from the Shuutoku team practicing in the gym a bit clearer than she had been able to in the hallway. This was their equipment room. It was dark, so it wouldn't be easy to tell if the uniforms were in here or not, but she was almost certain they weren't. She didn't know where this certainty came from, she just somehow knew the uniforms weren't in this room.

Riko walked back out and decided to check on her team to see if they were okay. Therefore she returned to the changing room and looked in, careful to not let anyone else peak.

"Have you found anything?" Hyuga sounded desperate as he saw Riko in the doorway.

"Not yet," Riko said, causing everyone to look slightly irritated. "But I have determined that they are not at the gym or in the equipment room," she answered.

"How is that gonna help us any?" Kagami grumped.

"We're running short on time," Fukuda said. "There's only 7 minutes left,"

"I'm hungry," Kagami complained.

Hyuga frowned. "Got any useful information?" he snapped while glaring at the tall first year.

"Actually," Kagami started. "I think Kuroko's missing,"

"WHAAAAAAT!" Everyone in the changing room exclaimed at Kagami's words. Riko found herself wondering how he would want to leave the room with no clothes on.

Riko sighed. "I guess I can put him on the list of things I have to search for," she mumbled before leaving the changing room again and closing the door firmly behind her but only after leaving her warning. "If anyone leave this room, I am going to make him regret it," she said.

"What about Kuroko?" Hyuga asked.

Riko smiled evilly. "He's going to regret it too," she said and then left.

She returned to the way she had been heading when she found the equipment room. She passed the room and headed further down the hallway, until she reached the next door. She looked through it, wondering where it led.

Behind the door was another equipment room and another door that led to a different hall. Judging from the slight scent of chlorine she could figure it was the pool at Shuutoku she had found now. She headed inside to see if whoever it was could have left the clothes there.

Thankfully the pool appeared to be free for the time being. Nobody was there, which was a fact Riko could only be grateful about, seeing as she now won't have to explain herself to some swim-team.

Riko took a quick look around. The area was perfectly clean for anything. There was no equipment and nothing left to just float around except… She looked to the pool and then her eyes landed on something floating in the water. A pair of shorts and a t-shirt in black, white and red colors and with a 10 on the back.

"Is that… Kagami's uniform?" Riko wondered.

"It is," The voice came from behind her and Riko jumped about 5 meters up in the air because she hadn't sensed anyone coming.

"Kuroko-kun!" she exclaimed before turning around. Only in the last minute she remembered not to look and covered her eyes.

"It's fine, coach," Kuroko said. "I found my uniform," he said.

Riko peaked from between her fingers. "You did?" she asked before realizing that he was right. He was wearing his uniform with the 11 on it. Unlike Kagami's, this one was completely dry.

"Where did you find it?" Riko asked.

"The girls' changing room," Kuroko said, pointing through the other exit of the pool area.

"Are the other uniforms there?" Riko asked.

"Yes," Kuroko answered.

Riko nodded. "Then help me gather them," she said.

Kuroko nodded and together they got Kagami's uniform out of the pool and Riko went in to collect the other uniforms from the girls' changing room. Then the two of them brought the uniforms back to the others.

The Seirin team lit up as they saw Kuroko and Riko with their uniforms. Only Kagami looked irritated because his was soaking wet.

"Well, you're gonna play in that anyway," Riko said while torturing Kuroko for going missing. "There are no excuses,"

"Now we just need to find the keys," Hyuga said.

"I know a way to find out where they are," Riko said. "We just go in and whoever look the most disappointed probably knows exactly where the keys are," she said.

Seirin's team nodded and they followed their coach into the Shuutoku gym, right on time for the game to begin. They had no time to warm up, but the point was that they were there with no need of being humiliated for not wearing anything.

Kuroko's eyes landed on Takao in an instant. It wasn't like he knew, it was just intuition, but indeed the point guard looked extremely disappointed just like Riko had said. He was hiding it well though. Kuroko decided to confront him after the game, seeing as nobody else noticed this.

* * *

Shuutoku won by three points, shot by Midorima in the very last second. Takao send Kuroko a weird look after that and the other found himself unable to interpret it.

"Why did you have to find those in time if you were going to lose anyway?" Takao asked him, still with that look on his face.

"Nobody wants to face humiliation," Kuroko answered calmly. He knew that the two of them had come to an understanding. Takao knew that Kuroko knew. "Why did you do this and how?" he asked, simply out of curiosity.

Takao let out a small laughter. "We had a test in Japanese history and I didn't feel like playing after that, but nobody would let me sit out, so this was the second best way, I simply took everything when you weren't looking,"

Kuroko nodded. "Where are the keys?" he asked.

"In my bag," Takao said. "If you direct everyone's attention away from me while I get them, you can have them," he said.

Kuroko wasn't sure if he should agree to that, but he couldn't come up with anything better at the moment and did as Takao asked of him. He soon held the keys in his hand and Seirin's team could soon get their clothes back. Nobody but Kuroko ever found out who had been behind this little incident.

* * *

 **Here is another honorable mention for today. This character is from one of my very favorite animes. He is sweet and super kind. Honestly, he might just be the definition of the perfect boy if it wasn't for his naivety. The one I'm talking about is Tachibana Makoto from Free! who is also voiced by the same seiyuu as Takao, Suzuki Tatsuhisa. Sadly I had to decide not to write a story for his birthday because I have a bunch of other projects, and I've got no idea of what to write. But since I had a period when I had trouble keeping Free! out of my head while writing this story you could consider it the piece of work.**

 **I also really hope you enjoyed this story. Thanks for reading it. For the record, the next story, some of you might recognize if you have spotted me inside this fandom before. Further note on that tomorrow xD**

 **Jackie**


	4. Teammate

**Summary:** Sakurai is missing and Aomine is determined to find him. But the only clue he has is a note saying "your ace have got connections" Will he get his teammate back?

* * *

Aomine opened the door to the gym at Touou academy, planning on attending practice for a change. He was late, but to him it didn't matter. Momoi stood just next to the door and watched as the team practiced, however, when Aomine entered she turned her head with a surprised expression on her face.

"Dai-chan?" she said in a tone that matched her expression perfectly.

"Why are you so surprised, Satsuki?" Aomine asked as he dumped his back on the floor.

"I was half expecting it to be Sakurai-kun. He hasn't shown up yet," Momoi said, now with a slight hint of worry sneaking into her voice.

"Strange," Aomine said. He clearly remembered that Sakurai had been to school today because a classmate had made the mistake of pointing out a small error on his drawing during a break, which caused him to apologize about it for a full ten minutes.

"Could you see if he's in the locker room?" Momoi asked.

Aomine sighed but did go to the locker room.

The room was empty. There was not a soul in there. Aomine looked around, but it turned out Sakurai had never even been there today. There was no sight of his bag, nor his indoor shoes. Aomine found it strange seeing as Sakurai would never skip practice unless he was absent from school as well.

This was when his attention was drawn to a note that was attached to Sakurai's locker. He took it and read it.

 _Touou Basketball Team_

 _We have hereby claimed Sakurai Ryou as ours. If you figure out who we are, there's a chance we might hand him back._

 _Here's a clue, your ace has got connections._

Aomine wondered if this was a joke, or what they called a kidnapping. And if the latter was the case, why would someone kidnap Sakurai of all people?

Well, no matter the reason there were two things that had to be done. He had to inform the others and go by the lead he had got. It was obviously someone he knew and probably one from the Generation of Miracles.

As he grabbed the note and headed back towards the gym he picked out his phone and called Kise's number.

"Aominecchi!" Kise exclaimed as he picked up the phone. Then he started talking about everything and anything, barely giving Aomine any room to talk. He actually spoke for two minutes before Aomine got through to him.

"Oi!" he yelled to make Kise shut up. "Sakurai is missing and I got a hint that I knew someone who might know where he is," he explained quickly.

"Uh… Sakurai… Who was that again?" Kise asked as he tried to remember. "He's on your team right?"

So far so good. Aomine couldn't help but think as he felt his patience with the other slowly crumble. "A little on the short side, shooting guard, apologizes a lot," he tried to help Kise's memory.

"Oh yeah, Sakurai!" Kise seemed to remember now. "He's not here though. Have you asked Kurokocchi?" he advised.

"You were the first I called," Aomine informed him.

"So I was the first you suspected! That's so mean Aominecchi!" Kise whined.

Aomine decided to hang up then, not feeling like dealing with Kise's childishness. He entered the gym and walked up to Momoi as he dialed Kuroko's number.

"Hello," Kuroko answered almost immediately.

"What's this?" Momoi asked as Aomine handed her the note he had found in the locker room.

Aomine didn't answer her. "Tetsu, Sakurai is missing and I was told that someone I know has something to do with it. Kise told me to give you a call,"

"Sakurai-kun? Why would he be here?" Kuroko asked in wonder.

Aomine thought for a second. "You could always use one more shooting guard," he tried. "Is he there or not?" Aomine snapped, getting slightly more impatient.

"He's not," Kuroko said. "Maybe Akashi-kun can give you a clue of who to call?"

"Thanks Tetsu," Aomine said while breathing to calm himself just a tiny bit.

"I hope you find him," Kuroko said before Aomine hung up.

Imayoshi came over to find out what Aomine and Momoi were standing around for. Momoi handed him the note and he quickly looked it over before looking at Aomine.

"Who were you on the phone with?" he asked.

"Tetsu, and before that Kise," Aomine quickly explained before calling Akashi. Both he and Kuroko knew that Akashi couldn't be the one behind the kidnapping, but there was a high possibility that he knew who could be behind it.

"And who are you calling now?" Momoi asked.

"According to Tetsu, Akashi might have a clue of who to call," Aomine answered.

"Yes," Akashi picked just that moment to pick up. "Daiki, what is it?"

"Our shooting guard at Touou Academy has been kidnapped by one of the Generation of Miracles," Aomine said. "I was hoping you could give me a clue of who to call,"

"The one that apologizes?" Akashi was now thinking about the matter. "Ryouta maybe?"

"I already called both him and Tetsu," Aomine informed.

"Does he have other skills than shooting?" Akashi asked almost like a professional detective.

Aomine looked at Momoi like she would know if Sakurai had other skills while giving his own answer. "He can cook… and draw manga, that's all I know,"

"Call Atsushi then," Akashi suggested.

"Okay." Aomine said before Akashi hung up.

Only five minutes later Akashi received another call, now from a much more irritated Aomine than the one he hung up with.

"He's not picking up!" Aomine practically yelled.

"Is that so?" Akashi asked, calmly in contrast. "He must be practicing then. Call and check with Shintarou and if it's a negative, go to Yousen."

Aomine sighed and hung up and then called Midorima's number, praying Sakurai was at Shuutoku.

"What?" Midorima asked irritated.

"Our shooting guard, Sakurai has been kidnapped and I got the clue he was with one of you," Aomine was tired of repeating those same words so many times.

"What would Shuutoku do with an extra shooting guard?" Midorima asked. Aomine had thought the same thing and therefore he hadn't called Midorima until now. The chances of Sakurai being there was so unlikely that Aomine had considered not even calling Midorima.

"I don't know. But it is either you or Murasakibara," Aomine explained."

"I doubt he is here," Midorima said. "I'm on my way to practice."

That was signal for the conversation to end and Aomine sighed before hanging up.

* * *

Midorima continued down the hallway and opened the door to the gym. The sight that met him made him stop right in the doorway for a few seconds. Takao stood in front of the rest of the Shuutoku team and smiled when he saw Midorima.

"There you are Shin-chan," the entire team moved and now Midorima could clearly see whom they had gathered around. "This is our new teammate, Sakurai Ryou from Touou Academy," Takao's smile was proud while Midorima was ready to kill… or be killed depending on what Aomine would do once he found out. This was why Midorima found himself forced to stop in the hallway.

"Are you trying to get me killed?" Midorima asked angrily.

Takao looked up at Midorima with a smirk on his face. "What do you mean, Shin-chan?" he asked innocently, like he had done nothing wrong.

"Aomine just called, asking if Sakurai was here and I told him no," Midorima hissed.

Takao grinned. "He caught on quicker than I thought," he said. He seemed surprisingly calm considering what would probably happen to him later.

Midorima found his phone and started texting Aomine. Takao's eyes widened as he saw this.

"What are you doing, Shin-chan?" he asked in a panic.

"Texting Aomine," Midorima answered and send the text.

 _To: Aomine Daiki_

 _Subject: None_

 _I was wrong. He is here_

"Stop!" Takao yelled, but of course it was already way too late to stop the text from being send.

* * *

Aomine didn't notice he had got a text from Midorima. He was already on his way to Yousen to speak to Murasakibara. Momoi was with him.

"What do you think they'll need Sakurai-kun for?" Momoi asked.

"I don't know," Aomine answered. "We can ask if he is there," apparently it wasn't worth giving too much thought.

The two were silent the rest of the way to Yousen.

They didn't waste time once arriving at the school. Aomine and Momoi headed for the gym and entered. The Yousen team was still practicing and only the coach came over when the two Touou students entered.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"We wanted to speak to Mukk…. I mean Murasakibara-kun," Momoi quickly corrected herself.

The coach sighed. She didn't see the need for the practice to be disturbed, but seeing as these guys came all the way from Touou Academy it had to be something important so she couldn't deny their request.

She stopped the game to call Murasakibara out and then let the others continue.

"Sacchin, Mine-chin, what is it?" Murasakibara asked irritated as he reached Aomine and Momoi.

"One of our teammates has gone missing and there is a chance he could be here," Aomine explained quickly.

Murasakibara thought it over for a while before shaking his head. "Muro-chin?" he called only loud enough for Himuro to hear. He stopped to look at the three. "Is there someone here we don't know?" Murasakibara asked the other.

"Only the transfer student in my class, but he wasn't from Touou," Himuro answered.

"Thanks," Aomine mumbled.

"Thanks Mukkun," Momoi smiled before she and Aomine left the Yousen gym again as Murasakibara could get back to his game.

Outside Momoi and Aomine stopped to find out what to do next.

"I give up," Aomine said lazily.

"Don't say that, Dai-chan," Momoi exclaimed. "There must be something else we can do, besides our team and Sakurai-kun too is probably counting on us to find him,"

"What could we do?" Aomine asked with an obvious lack of interest in his voice.

Momoi thought for a bit before the idea hit her like lightning from a clear blue sky. Her face lit up. "Do you have Sakurai-kun's number?" She couldn't believe neither of them had thought of that idea until this moment.

Aomine pulled out his phone to check but stopped when he noticed the text from Midorima. He read it quickly.

"He's at Shuutoku," he finally said.

Momoi looked up. "But didn't Midorin say…" she trailed off when Aomine grabbed her wrist and started dragging her along towards Shuutoku high school.

"He did, but he seems to have found him or something," Aomine said.

* * *

Midorima glared at Takao with both anger and frustration. Takao on the other hand looked amused. Sakurai looked from one to the other, seeming more worried and nervous than anything else.

"You'll be lucky if we survive this," Midorima said.

Takao just smiled. He seemed pleased with the fact that he had managed to get Midorima in trouble.

"Sumimasen… for causing you so much trouble, Midorima-san," Sakurai mumbled the apology, only loud enough for Midorima to hear, suddenly causing the green-haired boy to feel guilty himself.

"If it's anyone's fault, it's Takao's," Midorima said, trying to ease the feeling of guilt for both of them. It didn't work, seeing as it was just responded by another apology.

The two fell silent while listening to some of the other Shuutoku members playing basketball.

Then the door was slammed open and an angry Aomine entered the Shuutoku gym along with a worried Momoi. Takao hurried up and pulled Sakurai across the court as fast as possible. All the other Shuutoku members except Midorima withdrew out of the gym immediately.

"I though you would be here earlier," Midorima said.

"We were at Yousen when I saw your text," Aomine was irritated again. He had worked up the bad mood all the way from Yousen to Shuutoku.

"Sumimasen," Sakurai apologized, but all of them ignored him.

"Hand Ryou back over," Aomine demanded Midorima.

"I'm not the one behind this," Midorima defended himself.

"Then who is?" Aomine's voice rose to a yell.

"Takao," Midorima answered to which Aomine looked confused at him.

"That's Takao-kun over there," Momoi explained, directing Aomine's attention towards the Shuutoku point guard who was standing with his back against the wall, still with Sakurai.

"Then you hand him over…" Aomine trailed off, already having forgotten Takao's name again.

"Sumimasen, Takao-san," Sakurai said helpfully, but it came out in a way that sounded like it was his fault that Aomine had forgotten.

"Why?" Takao smirked at Aomine.

"You wrote in the note that you'd let him go if we found him," Aomine said.

"I didn't," the other denied. "I only wrote that you _might_ get him back, I fully intent on keeping him now," Takao squeezed Sakurai a bit as to make sure he words were clear.

"May I ask you what for, Takao-kun?" Momoi said.

"What exactly do you mean?" Takao asked, giving himself some time to figure out the right way to answer.

"You already have Midorin as shooting guard and ace so what would Sakurai-kun be doing here?" she asked.

Takao pretended to think some more before giving his answer. "I've heard he should be good at cooking," Takao's smirk grew wider.

Aomine took some time to let the words sink in. "No way," he said, his voice was low and dangerous. "No way anyone but me is gonna eat his food,"

"Aomine-san…" Sakurai felt warm inside, getting the feeling that Aomine actually cared a bit about him.

"He is coming back to Touou with us!" Aomine yelled as a finish on his words.

"Nah, he's much better off staying here, aren't you Sakurai?" Takao turned to ask the slightly shorter.

"Sumimasen, I-" Sakurai's apology was cut off by Aomine.

"NO! Ryou is coming back with us!" Aomine yelled.

"Sumima-" Again the apology was cut off, though this time by Takao.

"He'd rather stay here!"

"We need him more at Touou!" Aomine argued.

"We need him just as much!" Takao stated.

Momoi had gotten more than enough from their argument. "Cut it out!" she demanded, causing both Aomine and Takao to fall silent.

"Sumimasen," Sakurai mumbled.

"Dai-chan, Takao-kun, I think we should let Sakurai-kun decide on where he wants to be," Momoi said democratically while looking at Sakurai.

"I…" Sakurai trailed off but nobody tried to interrupt him. "I… think I would rather be at Touou then," he finally said. "I feel more useful there,"

Takao sighed in defeat. "So much for the fun, and I had already got some papers so you could transfer," Despite the complains he let go of Sakurai's arm, which he had been holding onto since Aomine got there.

Sakurai stepped up in front of Takao and apologized. For who knows what before he headed over to stand behind Aomine and Momoi.

"Are you going to do anything, Aomine?" Midorima asked.

"Nah, been active all afternoon," Aomine said lazily. "I'd rather take a nap,"

Midorima nodded and turned to Takao who, because of Aomine's words, had started to look relieved. "Takao," he said before he walked up to grab the shorter by the collar and drag him out of the gym. Before the door shot, the Touou students could hear the sound of someone being punched and the even clearer sound of Takao's yelp.

"There is one thing I wonder about though," Aomine said while giving Sakurai a thoughtful look. "How did he manage to kidnap you?"

"Sumimasen, I don't remember much," Sakurai admitted. "I think I was grabbed and blindfolded from behind,"

"Let's go back," Aomine sighed.

The three were about to leave when Takao returned to the gym with a black eye. "Sakurai!" he called out to the Touou shooting guard. Sakurai just turned his head as Takao headed over and handed him his phone. "My number is in there, call me whenever you need a ride," a smile appeared on Takao's face. "It will be nice driving someone lighter for a change,"

Midorima, who had also returned to the gym just now, looked up. "What was that, Takao?" he asked in a dangerous voice.

"Nothing!" Takao smiled sheepishly at Midorima, deciding it wasn't worth testing his luck anymore for that day.

"I will remember, thank you, Takao-san," Sakurai said before leaving the gym with Aomine and Momoi. Needless to say that all the way back, Aomine tried to convince Sakurai that it was a better idea to delete Takao's number, if he did it or not, nobody knows.

* * *

 **Some of you may recognize this story. I have had this published once before but decided to delete it for the reason that it had to be part of the Missing - series. This was actually the first of the stories I wrote. I came up with the ideas to the others later on. In addition I might also mention that the original publishing date for this story was on August 31st - Aomine's birthday.**

 **Oh yeah, and if we have to continue the mentions of birthdays from yesterday, I can't remember anyone for today, but a week ago both Takao's seiyuu, Suzuki Tatsuhisa, and one of Takao's teammates, Miyaji Kiyoshi, had their birthday, on November 11th. This is just a fun fact though.**

 **I hope you liked this one too. Don't forget to review, favorite and follow if you feel like it. I appreciate it a lot.**

 **I've got nothing more to say for now. Guess I'll just see you tomorrow.**

 **Jackie**


	5. Snacks

**Summary:** Someone is pranking Murasakibara. As soon as he has bought some snacks they mysteriously go missing. Where do they go and who is behind it?

* * *

Himuro and Murasakibara were both home on break in Tokyo. They had been traveling all day yesterday and were now spending today walking around Tokyo. None of them really knew where they were going. Himuro wanted to just get some fresh air and Murasakibara had wanted to find some new snacks. According to the taller male, Kuroko had informed him that there was some limited edition on a special kind of snack somewhere, and Murasakibara, of course, wanted to find it.

"What exactly is this snack anyway, Atsushi?" Himuro asked.

"Chips with apple flavor," The much taller answered, he was already eating something else. They had already been to three convenience stores and failed to find whatever it was, but Murasakibara had bought plenty of other snacks to make up for their lack of the chips he wanted.

Himuro looked around, in search for another store where they could possibly find these chips Murasakibara wanted so badly.

"Oh?" He heard Murasakibara say beside him and looked at him. "I seem to have run out of snacks?"

"Didn't you just buy?" Himuro asked in wonder.

"Yeah… I think I ate them quicker than I thought I would," Murasakibara answered.

Himuro looked around. "Let's go this way then," he said, pointing down the next street on their right hand. "Maybe there is another convenience store down there,"

The two headed down the suggested path and into the convenience store. Himuro patiently waited for Murasakibara to finish. He had no need to buy anything for himself anyway. He had bought something at the second convenience store they had been to and hadn't felt the need to buy anything since.

While waiting for the other to finish he looked out through the window and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a male, quickly taking a look inside the store before passing by, trying not to seem suspicious. Himuro found it suspicious, but decided not to give it more thought.

Murasakibara then returned with his arms full of snacks.

"Eh, you didn't buy anything, Muro-chin?" he asked in wonder.

"I didn't feel like it," Himuro said. "Did you find them?"

"No," Murasakibara shook his head showing that it didn't please him that he couldn't find the snacks he desired so much.

"Then we should try the next store," Himuro tried to encourage.

"Maybe we should," the taller exited the shop and Himuro followed quickly.

The two went on to find those chips of limited edition. Himuro kept an eye out for convenience stores while Murasakibara kept on walking and munching. They had only been walking for about 10 minutes when Murasakibara stopped up again.

"What's the matter, Atsushi?" Himuro asked as he noticed this.

"I'm out of snacks again," the taller said.

"Already?" Himuro asked surprised.

"But I bought more than usual last time," Murasakibara said.

Himuro couldn't comment on that. Murasakibara always bought a lot of snacks, he had no idea when he would buy more than usual. It always looked the same to Himuro.

"There should be another convenience store somewhere close by," Himuro said.

The two of them walked and easily found the nearest convenience store and entered. Again it was only Murasakibara who needed to buy something and Himuro just stood and waited for him to finish.

He didn't know how it happened but he ended up looking out the window and watched the people passing by. Again he noticed a particular male walking by and eying the store just once. For a brief second their eyes met and Himuro got the feeling that it wasn't by coincidence this guy was here. He decided to push the thought aside though, seeing as it didn't seem important to him.

"Oh, Muro-chin, what are you looking at?" Murasakibara asked.

Without Himuro being aware of it, Murasakibara had finished buying snacks and now stood close behind him with his arms full of snacks he had bought.

"Nothing," Himuro said while looking away from the window, the stranger had already passed by the store so he wondered why he still kept on looking at the window. "Let's go, Atsushi," he said before taking the lead out of the convenience store.

"We're still looking for my snacks," Murasakibara said while munching on something, a chocolate bar it seemed.

"I see, they didn't have it there either?" Himuro mumbled.

They walked in silence for another five minutes until the surprised sound came from Murasakibara once again and Himuro didn't have to ask this time to know that the other had already run out of snacks again. He was really getting suspicious now.

"Are there other convenience stores nearby?" Murasakibara looked at Himuro, expecting him to know the answer.

Himuro didn't know though and had to look at the GPS on his phone. "The closest one is the one we just left five minutes ago," he said.

Murasakibara said nothing to this, he just turned around and headed back the way they just came. Himuro had to follow.

They entered the store and Himuro couldn't help but notice that the guy in the store was indeed surprised to see the two of them come back so quickly, but he was probably the more surprised by the fact that Murasakibara was already out of snacks.

Himuro stood and looked outside again, however this time it was intentionally that he ended up standing like this. He was waiting patiently and his suspense was confirmed when the guy from before passed by again. Himuro walked out to catch the guy this time, being sure that he had to be part of all this with the missing snacks going on this afternoon.

"Are you tailing us?" Himuro asked as he stepped out of the store and right in front of the guy.

"I suppose there's no point in denying it," the male said. He looked up and their eyes met again.

Himuro took his time to take in the other's appearance. The other was slightly shorter that Himuro himself, and with blue-like eyes. He had black hair stroked backwards but with a bit falling down into his eyes. He looked to be in the age of high school too, just like Himuro and Murasakibara. He had a smirk on his face that practically screamed trouble into Himuro's face.

"Who are you?" Himuro asked.

The other got a thoughtful look in his eyes while still keeping his smirk in place. "I suppose it won't do any harm," he said. "I'm Takao Kazunari," he sent Himuro a challenging look. "Who're you?" he asked.

"I'm surprised that you're tailing us and don't know," he said honestly. "I'm Himuro Tatsuya," he presented himself. "Now, why are you tailing us?"

The other's smirk got even wider (if that was possible) and he eyed the convenience store. "Your big friend is fun to prank," he said.

"Prank?" Himuro wondered.

"Yeah," Takao nodded. "I heard he liked snacks and when I saw him around town with the snacks I thought, hey why not try and steal them and see what happens?"

"He normally just goes out to buy more as soon as he runs out," Himuro answered.

Takao nodded. "But what when he runs out of money?" he asked.

Himuro nodded. He hadn't thought of it like that before, but he didn't know either what would happen once Murasakibara ran out of money. Maybe it was worth sticking around to see just that.

"Okay," he said. "Give me a few minutes to give him an excuse and I'll help you out in whatever you're doing to steal these snacks,"

"Isn't that a little harsh, seeing as you are his friend?" There was no caring in Takao's voice, just plain curiosity.

"Probably," Himuro answered. "But I too would like to see how this turns out,"

Takao nodded and with a short laugh he left and Himuro kept on standing outside the store until Murasakibara exited.

"Ah, Atsushi," Himuro turned to him. "I have just been asked to come home because something important is going to happen so I will leave you here," he said.

"M-kay," Murasakibara mumbled with his mouth full of something Himuro wasn't even sure what was, but it seemed to taste good if you asked Murasakibara.

"Bye then," Himuro left in the same direction as Takao had gone and turned the nearest corner.

"Is he gonna fall for it?" Takao asked slightly worried.

"Don't worry," Himuro said. "He is thinking like a child and a bit slow in the uptake sometimes," he said.

"I see, good for us," Takao said. "We should get a move on, he is heading the other way," he continued quickly before leaving their hiding spot and get started on trailing Murasakibara.

They walked in silence and only stopped once Murasakibara had entered the next convenience store. In the meantime Takao had climbed up on top of a building and started trailing the tall boy from up there. Himuro had followed easily and watched as Takao had used a fishing pole to snatch snacks from Murasakibara's bag. Himuro found himself slightly amused by the fact that Murasakibara didn't even notice as the snacks kept disappearing, but he was surprised that he, himself, hadn't noticed this either.

"How come I didn't notice?" Himuro asked.

"I picked the moments when you were the most distracted to do this," Takao said before eying the next block where they had to jump to soon. "That's a bit far…" he mumbled.

"You're right, a bit risky too," Himuro said.

"I'm betting Kagami could do it though," Takao mumbled with a smirk on his face like he actually wanted that ability to jump high right now.

"Kagami?" Himuro asked.

"Yeah, Kagami Taiga of Seirin's basketball team," Takao said.

"How do you… Do you play basketball too?" Himuro asked.

"Yeah, for Shuutoku," Takao said. "We've played against Seirin a lot," he added.

"I see, I play for Yousen, so does my friend down there," Himuro said, nodding down at Murasakibara.

"That's how you know each other," Takao nodded. "I know he plays for Yousen, Shin-chan told me,"

Himuro looked confused. "Shin-chan?" he asked.

"You probably know him as Midorima," Takao said. "Another member of the Generation of Miracles,"

Himuro nodded. He had heard of Midorima Shintarou before.

In the end the two had to climb down from the building and up on the other, seeing as it really was too risky just jumping from building to building. They kept trailing Murasakibara from convenience store to convenience store and kept on stealing his snacks every now and then.

"Could you keep an eye on him for a few minutes?" Takao asked, handing Himuro the fishing pole. "I need to put these away," he showed all the bags full of the snacks they had stolen and Himuro nodded. Takao disappeared for around 10 minutes while Murasakibara had entered another store.

While Takao was still gone Murasakibara exited the store again with an unusually small amount of snacks.

"I'm out of money and still haven't found the limited edition," Himuro heard Murasakibara complain before walking ahead.

Takao returned just then and looked over Himuro's shoulder. "That wasn't much," he commented.

"I think he's out of money," Himuro answered.

"Then let's get them," Takao said and grabbed the fishing pole before jumping off and snatching a few more snacks. Before either of them knew it, the bag was empty again and Murasakibara looked down at it for a brief moment before just continuing on walking.

"That wasn't much of a reaction," Takao said, slightly disappointed.

Himuro nodded. "Somehow I think it could have been worse, he could have grown angry or something," he said.

They continued on following Murasakibara down a few more streets and Takao continued to grow more worried all of the sudden. Himuro, of course, picked up on this and eyed the other boy every now and then.

"Something wrong?" he asked without a hint of concern in his voice.

"Yeah," Takao said. "I don't like the way he is heading,"

"Why?" Himuro asked, not really getting why Takao would have a problem with a particular way the other was going.

"The rickshaw where I keep all the snacks we stole is just in this area, in fact he is heading right towards it," Takao explained.

"I see," was all Himuro bothered to say. He wondered what would happen if Murasakibara found the rickshaw and how he would react, therefore he didn't bother to do anything, even if he could probably had thought up a plan to stop his teammate.

Murasakibara turned right and Takao gasped as the tall teen stopped in front of a particular rickshaw and looked down in it. His expression was hidden from the two above him because he was looking down.

"Is it alright to take these?" Murasakibara wondered.

Without waiting for anyone to give him an answer he started filling up his empty bags with all the snacks that he had lost during the day. He seemed to be completely unaware of this fact though, seeing as he didn't comment on it. He found something else to comment on though.

"What is this?" he said as he picked the last bag of chips up from the bottom.

"He just didn't…" Takao mumbled while staring intensely at the bag in Murasakibara's hand.

"What is it?" Himuro asked, unable to see what it was Murasakibara was holding in his hand.

"Those limited edition chips," Takao said. "Those with apple flavor. I was send out to buy these for Shin-chan because they say it's his lucky item tomorrow,"

"Do you believe in that?" Himuro let a dry laugh escape him.

"No way," Takao exclaimed. "But Shin-chan believes strongly in it, it ruins his day if he doesn't have it,"

"Well, I should get home now," Himuro said.

"Can't you help me find some more?" Takao asked.

"You know where they are, so no, I'm not gonna help you anymore," Himuro answered before getting started on climbing down from the roof.

"But I took the last bag there was in the third store you were in," Takao said.

"Then I just wish you good luck with finding some more," Himuro said before climbing down and leaving the place. Murasakibara had already left, with the bag of limited edition chips in hand while eating them handful by handful.


	6. Scissors

**Summary:** Akashi's scissors are going missing. What happens when he find out and just who is stupid enough to take them? Whoever they are, they better say their prayers.

* * *

Usually nothing happened at Rakuzan, at least not something worth speaking of, but this particular day was worth speaking of in such a way that it would with no doubt be remembered for at least the next three years, and no doubt be remembered for a lifetime by the people involved.

Akashi had entered the cafeteria, planning on having his lunch in somewhat peace. He had nothing important to discuss with his team, so he didn't expect them to show up as he sat there, but they did.

"May we sit here, Sei-chan?" Mibuchi asked standing by the seat next to Akashi's. Hayama and Nebuya had already prepared to get seated on the chairs at the other side of the table.

"Go ahead," Akashi said politely. It didn't please him too much that they sat with him, but it didn't bother him enough that he felt like there was a reason to push them away either. He wondered why they had decided to sit here though. But he won't ask. If there was a particular reason, he knew one of them would say it eventually.

The three second years got started on a discussion about food quality and the definition of enjoying food, this most likely came from the speed Nebuya was eating at, which was an incredibly fast speed.

"Would you slow down? It's disgusting," Mibuchi asked while turning his head away from Nebuya.

"What?" Nebuya asked before stuffing more meat into his face.

"You're hardly even taking the time to enjoy the food at that speed," Mibuchi commented, still with his face turned away.

"I enjoy it," The other argued.

Hayama butted in. "How do you even enjoy food in the first place, Reo-nee?"

Mibuchi took some time thinking, allowing his gaze to fall on Hayama who actually ate more 'properly' so to speak. "I'd say you take the time to taste the flavor of what you eat, thereby you do not end up stuffing your face so easily," he explained while sending a quick look at Nebuya.

"Hmm… maybe I should give that a try?" Hayama thought.

"So, how do you eat?" Mibuchi asked.

"I don't know," Hayama answered. "I just do it," and then he started doing so, as to show what he meant.

"How do you think one should eat to enjoy the food as much as possible, Sei-chan?" Mibuchi asked while now turning to Akashi.

Akashi placed his chopsticks while looking thoughtful. "It is of course important to take the time to enjoy the flavors of what you eat," Akashi answered.

Nebuya picked just that moment to take a huge mouthful of meat that could barely be stuffed into his mouth and therefore splattered juices everywhere, inclusive Akashi's uniform.

"Sorry," Nebuya said while not really paying attention. It didn't sound like he meant the apology at all.

Now it wasn't the stains on Akashi's uniform that mattered so much. The uniform could be washed and he could also find a spare uniform easily, but hadn't it been for the apology that was delivered more on reflex than of feelings, and the laugh that escaped Hayama, he wouldn't have done what he did now.

Akashi slowly bent down to his bag, so slowly that the others managed to tense up, and opened it evenly slowly. He reached down into the bag and started fumbling around.

This move was nothing new to the second years. They knew what was coming. Soon Akashi would sit up right again with a pair of scissors in hand and before they could manage to blink he would attack them with the scissors.

But this time, he kept on fumbling around in his bag. Mibuchi leaned over, knowing full well that he wasn't in any danger, and tried to see why Akashi took longer than usual. Was it just an act to draw out the tension, or was something else the matter?

"Sei-chan?" he asked.

"Quiet Reo," Akashi said irritated. His hand kept on fumbling around in the bag. "They're gone…" he mumbled.

"What's gone?" Hayama asked from across the table, having heard Akashi's mumble.

Akashi said nothing. He had grasped something else down in the bag and now pulled the same move as usual, Nebuya and Hayama got busier dodging whatever Akashi was attacking with than worrying about what had gone missing. What Akashi was attacking with was pencils.

After getting tired of attacking the two fools, Akashi bend back down to see if he had just been mistaken and that they were still there. He kept on fumbling around in his bag, forgetting everything about lunch for a while.

Eventually he had to give up on the matter. It seemed like his scissors really had gone missing. This was strange enough because he always kept at least three pairs in his bag, just in case, but today there were none. He went to his locker to make sure he hadn't taken them out and left them there with the two other pairs of scissors he kept there. He hadn't. In fact there were no scissors there at all.

Akashi wondered about where they could have disappeared to. They had with no doubt been taken by someone, but who could have been foolish enough to do this? He had to figure it out first, but maybe, if he was lucky, he could find them on the roof where Mayuzumi usually went.

So Akashi found himself heading up to the roof where Mayuzumi usually sat in an attempt to find out who had stolen all his scissors, however when he opened the door, the only one who could find was the only one you could always find up there.

"Mayuzumi," Akashi said as he approached his teammate.

Mayuzumi looked up from the light novel he was reading. "What is it, Akashi?" he asked.

"Have you noticed someone unfamiliar trying to hide up here today?" he asked.

Mayuzumi flipped a page in the light novel. "I haven't," he answered.

Akashi nodded while he felt his mood drop a bit. It wouldn't be fun for his team to come to practice today if he didn't find his scissors soon.

"Thank you, Mayuzumi," Akashi just said before leaving to allow the other to finish reading in peace, until the break was over.

* * *

Akashi still hadn't found his scissors by the time he had to go to class after the lunch break and he was therefore in a bad mood in class too. His classmates barely dared to speak to him at all. Only the teachers bothered him with school related stuff, which they had to do, of course.

While in class Akashi tried to wrap his head around who in the world could have stolen his scissors. There had to be someone he could suspect, but he had a reputation at Rakuzan for being one of those you shouldn't piss off, not even as a joke, and therefore he knew it couldn't be one of his fellow students unless they had lost their mind.

He remembered though, that Kise had texted him once that the basketballs and Kaijou had gone missing, pissing off the entire team. He had written who had stolen them in the text, but Akashi hadn't really felt like bothering with Kise at all and therefore he had just deleted the text. Now he wished he hadn't. Maybe it could have given him a clue.

Now that he thought about it, hadn't Aomine also had some problems once? Though that had been with a teammate going missing. Was that even the same? There was a chance of course. Thinking about this matter Akashi came to wonder if Aomine ever found his teammate again or if he had just laid down to sleep.

Maybe he should speak to one of them afterwards, but he didn't feel like dealing with either of them at this point. Also, he was a too proud to go ask for help from others, and he certainly wouldn't step as low as to ask those two idiots for anything.

With that resolve in mind he spent the rest of his afternoon classes thinking of where this person could be right now. It was easier to figure out his patterns than figuring out who he was it seemed. This task would of course have been easier if he had known who he was looking for.

This person didn't seem to know him well so there was only one reason he could do this, for his own entertainment, this meant that he had to be somewhere around here. Akashi could imagine that this person wouldn't miss out on his reaction to the missing scissors. He therefore knew he would find him eventually. He just had to look carefully around to find him.

Where could this person be now though? Had he gone somewhere else or was he watching Akashi now? Akashi tried to see if he could sense someone's eyes on him. It seemed he couldn't, but he started to notice a feeling that someone was watching him.

* * *

After classes were over, Akashi had club activities. All the way to the gym he tried to keep an eye out for anyone spying on him while not seeming too aware of the other person. He had a feeling he was being tailed now, therefore he couldn't let them be aware of the fact that he knew they were there.

Akashi suddenly stopped. It wasn't like he would do the exact thing he just told himself he won't do, but a realization had hit him. Whoever was tailing him had probably been doing it all along without him being aware. He had managed to do it without catching too much attention, which could mean that A) he was good at hiding himself and blending in with the crowd, like Kuroko, or B) he had an exceptionally good eye sight. Both were very likely.

The problem with A was that he didn't know anyone besides Kuroko and Mayuzumi who would pull something like that, and both of them certainly knew better than to bother Akashi like this. This meant that only B was left. But who did he know with a good eye sight?

Akashi started walking again as he started to come up with people with a good eye sight. On this matter he had only two who came to mind, both of whom he weren't sure. There was that point guard from Seirin who had the Eagle Eye. He couldn't remember his name, but he had a gut feeling it wasn't him. He didn't seem like the type.

Then there was that other guy who was acting as Midorima's partner. Akashi hadn't paid him any mind at all, and certainly not enough to remember his name. His ability was called the Hawk Eye, that much Akashi did remember, and as far as he could recall it was even better than the Eagle Eye. He didn't know much of Midorima's partner, but he couldn't just say that it wasn't him. Sure there was a far distance from Tokyo to Kyoto, but this guy was Akashi's best bet so far.

With these thoughts in mind, Akashi hurried to practice. If he was first in the gym there was a chance the others would run into whoever this was, special abilities or no, this guy would be caught and punished for stealing his scissors.

* * *

Akashi was shooting layups with some third years and a second year student. None of them were starters so he didn't know them that well. But they weren't bad. They were simply warming up a little bit before practice while waiting for the others to get there.

Two more came in while they were doing layups and automatically just allowed themselves to get into the flow. That was how things went until everyone arrived. Some practice like this was good for them. That was what the coach said.

Akashi's turn was coming up again and he prepared to make the layup. It would be just as flowing as the others had been, like it was done without a single trouble, on mechanism. Akashi allowed the ball to slip away from his hand and fly upwards, into the hoop, but while it did so, he saw something else heading his direction at an incredibly dangerous speed. He only caught sight of it out of the corner of his eye and caught it, just before it hit his face. He landed perfectly and looked at the object.

It was a pair of scissors. One of the missing pairs of scissors in fact.

Akashi looked towards the entrance where he was sure it had come from, but he could see nothing besides… well the empty entrance and the scenery from outside.

He then looked over his shoulder to see that the rest of his team stood completely still. None of them dared to move a muscle as he looked. Nobody had prepared to do the next layup and the flow was completely broken.

"Continue," Akashi demanded. "I will go put this away," he informed them about this before leaving to put the scissor in his back. He could hear the others get started on the layups again. First it was hesitant, but after only a few seconds the rhythm was the same as it had been before.

Akashi returned to his team and saw that now someone was making their way through the door. It seemed to be Hayama and Nebuya with Mibuchi walking in front of them. Someone was between Nebuya and Hayama, struggling to get free, but their attempts failed continuously.

"Sei-chan," Mibuchi said. "We caught this person outside the gym, keeping an eye on our team," he said.

Akashi nodded. "Thank you, Reo," he said before the other stepped aside, revealing the person they had caught spying.

The person looked up as Akashi approached him and their eyes met. The other stood up right, and Akashi immediately noticed that the other was a tiny bit too tall for him. The other looked like it was no matter. He looked like he had had a lot of fun because of Akashi.

Akashi allowed his gaze to trail down the boy. He wasn't wearing a jersey or a school uniform, he was just wearing a t-shirt and pants, a jacket, and in the pocket of his jacket, Akashi could see his scissors all lying.

"Who are you?" he asked, staring up at the other's face.

"Why would I say that?" The other answered cockily. "As long as you don't know my name you can't harm me," he smirked at Akashi, which displeased the redhead.

Akashi stared at him. "Just because I don't know your name, it doesn't mean you are any safer. I recognize your face. You play for Shuutoku, you are that boy with the Hawk Eye who is Shintarou's partner. You have used your ability for this thing to keep an eye on me,"

By the time Akashi was done talking, the other had been forced down on his knees and was now looking much less cocky. In fact he looked like a scared rabbit. "That's all true…" he just said in a much more quiet voice.

"Good, we're talking now," Akashi's voice was cold as ice. "Now all we need is a punishment…" he trailed off, looking thoughtful. He carefully studied the fear that was now displayed in the other's face. He reached down into the other pocket of the boy's jacket and picked out the student ID that he had figured was there. The ID gave him both name and confirmed that he was right. It was Midorima's partner on Shuutoku.

Akashi drew out the moment and used the student ID as a simple excuse. He studied it carefully. There was nothing else he could get out of it, but he kept on studying it anyway. He had already decided on the other's punishment.

"Takao Kazunari, I have decided for your punishment," Akashi said. "But I'm afraid it will have to wait until after practice or things will get a bit messy, would you be as kind as to wait?"

"No way," Takao exclaimed and with those words he tore himself away from Nebuya and Hayama and ran to the door out of the gym like his life depended on it. However, his path was blocked by none other than Mayuzumi who had just arrived for practice.

"What's going on, Akashi?" he asked.

"Your timing couldn't be better, Mayuzumi," Akashi answered as Nebuya and Hayama caught Takao once again. Akashi turned to the two. "Make sure he doesn't leave until we're done," he said. "I fully intend to go through with this punishment,"

With those words Akashi walked up to Takao one final time and took the scissors out of his pocket. Akashi then brought them to his bag, not caring how Nebuya and Hayama carried out his demand, but he hoped they succeeded. He had never wanted to punish someone as badly as he wanted to punish Takao right now.

* * *

 **I hope the Rakuzan characters are not too much OOC. I looked up on their wiki to get to know them a little better and be able to write them as much in character as possible, but I'm not sure I got it right. Tell me if I have made any major errors about that.**

 **A reason why it makes sense to publish this one with Akashi today is that it's Akashi's birthday in exactly one month from now. Just notable info. And it's my little sister's birthday today.**

 **I'd also like to thank the two who reviewed. I appreciate it. In fact my face looks like one big smile right now as I'm writing this. Just thought I'd let you know.**

 **This is all for now. Final chapter tomorrow. Keep an eye out for it!**

 **Jackie**


	7. Lucky Item II

**Summary:** Midorima's lucky item is missing, AGAIN! Midorima wonders how this could be until he is contacted by Takao. What happened and what is Midorima's lucky item?

* * *

Midorima's routine was as strictly followed as ever. There was not a single flaw in what he was doing that could cause misfortune to fall upon him. The breakfast was the same as it had always been and so was the routine of watching Oha-asa in the morning. The TV was already on the right channel.

Midorima listened for when Cancer's turn came up while eating slowly. He wasn't in a hurry today. He could feel it in his body, if he just got today's lucky item today would be just perfect.

Cancer's turn came and Midorima listened carefully to every detail about his horoscope. It was exactly as he had sensed. He just had to get his hands on his lucky item and this might become one of the best days he had had in a while.

By the mention of the lucky item, however, Midorima froze in the middle of a movement. Just the thought of how simple it was made him feel slightly amused, but how would he manage this? The first thing he could do was to just go to school and pray that Takao wouldn't try to ruin his luck again. How good was Scorpio's luck today anyway?

Midorima had no time to think of this as he soon looked up and realized he had to leave the house soon if he wanted to be sure to make it to class in time. Not like it mattered, he would always make it somehow, even if he left the house five minutes late. But it was a bad idea to push his own luck.

* * *

The walk to school went just perfectly and it also went fine once he made it to class. Something was missing though. Midorima didn't notice at first because he usually arrived after Takao, but once class started, his partner still had yet to show up.

Because of the lack of Takao being around, somehow it felt like Midorima's luck was slowly crumbling, disappearing into nothing. The worst part was that he couldn't seem to do anything about the matter, no matter how hard he struggled.

He had received a text from Takao the day before, saying he would be absent for school that day. Midorima had found it a bit suspicious. Knowing Takao and all the things he had been up to lately, the thing of him being absent from school could only mean nothing good. Midorima found himself wondering if he had taken the pranks too far.

But who had Takao pranked, and who had he still yet to prank?

He had pranked Midorima that one time with the mechanical pencils. He had taken it far, but Midorima wouldn't consider it too far, and if he had wanted to prank someone from Shuutoku he could just stay at school. That was easier.

Then there had been the incident with Kaijou's basketballs. Had Takao gone back to Kaijou and pulled something? Probably not. Maybe Kise could be fooled but his senpais were far from dumb and Kise was at least smart enough to know to rely on their words.

Then there was Kuroko, the last time they had interacted with each other was at the practice game between their schools. Seirin had showed up a bit late for the game and Kagami's uniform had been soaking wet. Midorima had no idea of what had happened, but he was sure Takao knew. It hadn't gone by his attention that Takao and Kuroko had spoken in hushed voices after the game and Takao had seemed a bit nervous.

Then there had been the whole thing when Aomine was sent half way across the country in search of a teammate only to realize that Takao had brought said teammate to Shuutoku. It wouldn't surprise Midorima if had tried pranking Aomine again and been knocked out cold somewhere. Maybe he should call Aomine and ask later, if Takao didn't show up on his own.

Then there had been the story Takao had told last week as an excuse of why he hadn't brought Midorima's lucky item that day. According to the story, Takao had tried to prank Murasakibara of all people but it had somewhat gone wrong and Murasakibara had ended up stealing the limited edition chips Takao had bought for Midorima. There wasn't a chance in the world that Takao would prank the same person within two weeks.

Midorima froze. He was now sitting at lunch, alone and with the chopsticks midair. If Takao had gone and pranked Akashi… No he couldn't have, not even an idiot would do that unless he had a death-wish. Then again, judging by Takao's actions lately, this was probably just what he had.

Midorima was snapped out of his frozen position when he noticed his cellphone was ringing. He picked it up without looking at the caller ID and answered.

"Midorima Shintarou speaking," he said.

"Shin-chan?" It was Takao's voice, but it sounded weird, like he was in pain.

"Takao, where are you, and why are you calling at a time like this?" Midorima asked, not failing to let the irritation show in his voice.

"Gomenne, Shin-chan," Takao said. "I'm in trouble,"

Midorima sighed. He had figured as much. "Who did you prank this time?"

"That… Akashi," Takao hesitated slightly before letting the name escape his lips. The name wasn't very surprising, not half as surprising as the fear in Takao's voice when he spoke the name.

Midorima wondered what Akashi had pulled Takao through that could make the other fear him so much. He had highly doubted the day would ever come when Takao got scared of anything. In fact he had been willing to bet all his lucky items that the day would never come.

"What's the punishment?" Midorima asked.

Takao was silent for a bit. "A beating and…" Takao trailed off before a sad sound escaped him, not really a sob, but something close to it.

"And what, Takao?" Midorima asked, getting impatient. He had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer.

"I have to stay at Rakuzan until someone come pick me up". He had been right about that feeling.

Midorima sighed and pushed his glasses up on his nose. "We will see what we can do about that," he said.

"But Shin-chan!" The other exclaimed. "I really don't want to be here! Just the thought of Akashi sends shivers down my spine!" Takao yelled. "You can't let me stay here forever!"

Midorima said nothing. He just hung up. Somehow he found himself enjoying the fact of making Takao suffer. Maybe this would teach him the lesson to stop doing things like these. But Midorima couldn't just leave him hanging, his luck for today depended on Takao, and therefore he had to go get his hopeless partner. Even if it meant facing off against Akashi, who sometimes (although Midorima would never admit it) could send shivers down his spine as well.

* * *

Midorima couldn't draw this thing out for too long. He only stayed at school long enough to finish classes and excuse both himself and Takao from practice, much to his teammates' dismay.

Then he took the rickshaw to the station and boarded the first train to Kyoto. He was lucky that one rolled into the station right after he had bought his ticket and he could board it right away. Maybe fate knew that he was going to get his lucky item and would provide him the best of luck on the way. Fortune was smiling down at him for who knew what reason.

The long ride was still pleasant, even if Midorima knew that something much less pleasant was awaiting him at the end. How would he even do this? Would he just go up and talk to Akashi or would his former captain demand him to do something else?

These questions were still floating around Midorima's head as he entered Rakuzan high school. He was stopped by a teacher who asked what he came for. When Midorima told that he had come to see Akashi, he was led in right away and given directions to the gym.

Midorima entered the gym slowly. Rakuzan's team was about to finish practice, or had they already finished? It seemed there were only a few left who were talking.

"How long do you plan on keeping him in there?" one asked.

"As long as it take for his teammates to decide they want him back," Akashi answered.

"How long do you think it will take for one of them to come get him?" another asked.

"Depends on if Shintarou decides that he can make do without his lucky item for today," Akashi answered coldly.

"Can he?" the second one asked.

"Doubtfully," Midorima could hear a smile in Akashi's voice.

"Hold on, Sei-chan, what if he doesn't show up, do we have to feed him then?" the first one said.

"No," Akashi said coldly. "There won't be a need,"

"I'm not giving up any of my meat, it helps develop muscles," a third said.

"And your eating habits are disgusting," the first one said. "But how can you be so sure about that Sei-chan?"

Midorima decided that now was as good a time as any to enter that gym.

"Akashi simply knows me just as well as any other member of the team from Teiko," he pushed his glasses in place with a taped finger.

"You finally decided to enter, Shintarou," Akashi said. "He called you, exactly as I predicted,"

"Of course," Midorima answered. "He relies on me way too much,"

Akashi sent him a dry smile. "If I didn't know you better I'd say you cared for him. You came here as soon as school had finished,"

Midorima saw no way of denying it so he just avoided answering. "What did he do this time?"

"He was dishonest and disrespectful," Akashi simply answered, not wanting to get further on the subject.

"He had Sei-chan's scissors go missing," one of the Uncrowned Kings said.

"Reo," Akashi said in a strict tone, causing the other to look at him.

"Gomennasai, Sei-chan," he said politely before stepping behind his teammates.

"Well," Akashi looked at Midorima. "I assume you still want him back," he then turned on his heal and led the way to the back of the gym where Midorima now noticed a door. He followed Akashi in the same pace as the shorter, knowing that the redhead didn't want to be overtaken by anyone outside game and since there was no need to hurry, he found it better to stay on Akashi's good side.

Akashi reached the door first and was fumbling with the lock while Midorima walked closer to him from behind and stopped a few steps behind.

A loud click was finally heard after a few minutes and Akashi opened the door. "You're lucky, Takao Kazunari, someone is here to pick you up,"

Takao peaked out of the door and his face lit up like a lantana when his eyes landed on Midorima.

"Shin-chan!" he exclaimed. He eyed Akashi for a brief second before hurrying up and got himself out of the room as he could stand by Midorima's side. "I really thought you weren't coming,"

Akashi smirked. "So typical you, Shintarou," he said. "Faking that you don't care when you actually do,"

"I don't," Midorima said. "I only care about today's lucky item,"

Akashi let out one dry laugh. "And there are no other Scorpios at Shuutoku but that one?" he asked.

Midorima snorted and turned on his heel, refusing to continue the conversation. "Let's go, Takao," he said.

"You should keep him in a shorter leach," Mibuchi was so kind to suggest as Midorima and Takao passed him while they were on their way out.

"I am aware," Midorima said coldly and left the room.

Behind him, Takao sent one last scared look in Akashi's direction and then ran a few steps to catch up to Midorima. Being alone once with Akashi yesterday had been more than enough for his liking.

* * *

On Takao's request they stopped by the nearest convenience store on their way to the station in Kyoto. Takao needed something to eat and while he was at it, he also grabbed a red bean soup and bought it.

"It's a thank-you-gift for Shin-chan for saving me," Takao said with a wide smirk on his face.

Midorima shook his head at the ridiculous line, but accepted the soup nonetheless. It was rare for Takao to buy these for him in the first place.

"I hate to admit it," Takao said as they boarded the train that was to take them back home. "But I think Akashi was right, you really do care about me Shin-chan," he said.

"That's nonsense, Takao," Midorima said, coldly.

"And I have never taken anything that didn't belong to me," Takao said while taking a bite of one of the rice balls he had bought.

Midorima rolled his eyes. He really wasn't up for this discussion at the moment.

"You don't appear to be hurt," he said.

Takao laughed. "You worried about that too Shin-chan? You really are the biggest tsundere I have ever met," he stated while throwing the rest of the rice ball into his mouth. "It was nothing serious. I'm a bit sore here and there but the only marks are some ugly bruises, and then I was out cold for about 16 hours.

To Midorima it seemed like a bit much, but if someone had punched Takao in the head hard enough, it could be possible. It had probably been the big muscle-guy.

"I tell you, those Uncrowned Kings are no kidding. One punch harder than a rock, the other is just wild like an animal and the third is outright creepy!" Takako threw another rice ball into his face.

Midorima looked out the window to hide the small smile that was about to show on his lips. This caused Takao to stop talking and pay attention to the green haired shooting guard.

"Oh, Shin-chan, are you smiling?" he asked.

Midorima quickly got his face back in place. "Have you ever seen me smile, aho?" He asked it like a rhetorical question.

Takao had to give the matter some thought. "Yeah, Shin-chan's always smiling on the inside," he declared.

Again Midorima found himself rolling his eyes. Takao sounded so stupid when he said stuff like that. Not even half of it was true, at least that was what Midorima believed.

"Have you learned your lesson?" Midorima said then.

Takao looked up, half a rice ball in his mouth. "M-what-m?"

"Have you learned your lesson?" Midorima repeated impatiently.

Takao swallowed and then laughed. "Yeah, don't worry, Shin-chan. I'm done causing trouble. Facing Akashi was more than enough to scare me off," he stuffed the rest of the rice ball into his face and looked down in the pack. "All empty…" he mumbled.

Midorima sighed. "You better stick around," he said.

Takao looked up at him with confusion. "Why do you say that all of the sudden?" he asked.

Midorima bit his lower lip. "If you happen to be my lucky item again, I will not want to search Japan for you one more time,"

"I'm amazed, Shin-chan searched the entire Japan to find me?" Takao smirked.

Midorima snorted. "Shut up, Takao,"

Takao didn't, but at least now all he did was laughing at how much of a tsundere his Shin-chan was. Midorima could only roll his eyes in respond, but despite all this, he was actually happy to have his partner back by his side.

* * *

 **Final Chapter, and with this I think I'd like to wish Takao a happy birthday and hope that he will continue to keep that strange friendship with Midorima that has caused me to laugh a lot**

 **I hope you liked this too. I tried to make Midorima as much like "I pretend I don't care about you while I actually do" as possible. I really hope it turned out alright.**

 **I never mentioned directly what Midorima's lucky item was. Did you figure out?**

 **With this, I'd like to do as I always do when finishing a story and thank SteelDolls and Grace for reviewing, amudragon16 for favoriting and angelwing33 and herseybarrules for both favoriting and following the story. It means a lot. And also thanks to everyone who just read the story. I really do appreciate it. **

**Hope to see you some other time!**

 **Jackie**


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